Softball Lions anxious for 2013
First season leaves team hungry for more
Top 'Cats with bats; Poovey, Doyle and Davis
WAXAHACHIE, Texas -- The first edition of the Southwestern Assemblies of God University women’s fast-pitch softball team recently wrapped up a season filled with thrills and spills.
Defeating Hillsdale College, 5-2, on the road in their first weekend and handling Texas College, 4-2, at home were season highs, as were a handful of late setbacks. It left most players with a hunger to improve and to rebound in 2013
The Lady Lions were more competitive than expected, and their 2-27 won-lost record came against established, more experienced programs in the Red River Athletic Conference.
Two teams in the league lost more than SAGU; Texas College and Huston Tillotson University.
Coach Tim Grant’s squad had a 1-7 record in home games, including 1-5 at their new campus park. They were 0-2 at the Waxahachie Sports Complex.
The young club played their first 16 games away from Waxahachie and went 1-20 on the road.
During the summer months the new facility will undergo the completion of some projects and will be ready to welcome the team for its fall camp. New recruits, walk-ons and returning veterans will train and battle for positions before taking off for the holidays in November and December.
Practices will resume in January, with the 2013 campaign set to begin in late January or early February.
The Lions struggled at the plate and finished with a .198 batting average. With a season under their belt, the Purple Pride will look to build on their foundational experience.
Leading the way at bat were five hitters who had stats above the team BA.
Kasey Poovey (Nevada, Tx / Community HS) was tops with a .285 average, followed by Chelsey Doyle (Seattle, Wash / Shorecrest HS) at .273, Shannen Davis (Kremlin, Okla / Kremlin-Hillsdale HS) .265, Lauren Johnson (Waxahachie, Tx / Waxahachie HS) .243 and Gabby Bruner (Peaster, Tx / Peaster HS) at .208.
Doyle had the club’s lone home run and had the most runs batted in, followed by Kyla Burke (Red Oak, Tx / Red Oak HS), Davis and Poovey.
Theresa Ballard (Austin, Tx / Homeschool) batted leadoff for the team and was tops in runs scored and walks.
Contact: Mark “Link” Warde, SAGU Sports Information Director, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 469-658-2847.
2012 Batting Statistics
| Name | G | Avg | Slg% | AB | R | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | HBP | SO | SF | SH |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballard, Theresa | 25 | .131 | .164 | 61 | 8 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| Bruner, Gabby | 16 | .208 | .208 | 24 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| Burke, Kyla | 28 | .181 | .222 | 72 | 5 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 17 | 0 | 0 |
| Davis, Shannen | 20 | .265 | .353 | 34 | 2 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 2 | 0 |
| Doyle, Chelsey | 24 | .273 | .345 | 55 | 4 | 15 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 |
| Jimenez, Iliana | 28 | .167 | .250 | 60 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 0 |
| Johnson, Lauren | 24 | .243 | .243 | 37 | 1 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 |
| Lawrence, Albreshia | 28 | .160 | .200 | 50 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 1 |
| Mata, Cassandra | 10 | .095 | .095 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Moody, Brenda | 7 | .000 | .000 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Poovey, Kasey | 25 | .286 | .411 | 56 | 7 | 16 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
| Ray, Tabitha | 12 | .083 | .167 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 |
| Smith, Jessica | 7 | .333 | .333 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Svochak, Kelsea | 25 | .140 | .158 | 57 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 0 |
| Westbrook, Kayla | 15 | .095 | .095 | 21 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
KEY: G - Games Played. Avg - Batting Average. Slg% - Slugging Percentage. AB - times At Bat (does not include walks or sacrifice flies). R - Runs. H - Hits. 2B-3B-HR - Doubles, Triples, Home Runs. RBI - Runs Batted In. BB - Base on Balls (walks). HBP - times Hit By Pitch. SO - Strike Outs. SF - Sacrifice Flies (that produced an RBI). SH - Sacrifice Hits (to advance a runner).
